CN110582256B

CN110582256B - Microenvironment controlled care including wound care

Info

Publication number: CN110582256B
Application number: CN201780086878.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卡米尔·罗斯·牛顿
Original assignee: PureWick Corp
Current assignee: PureWick Corp
Priority date: 2016-12-19
Filing date: 2017-12-14
Publication date: 2022-05-03
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-14
Also published as: AU2017378729B2; EP3554437C0; EP3554437B1; CN110582256A; WO2018118619A1; AU2017378729A1; EP3554437A4; JP7011660B2; KR102392470B1; MX2019007224A; BR112019012752A2; US20180168853A1; US11446174B2; CA3047291A1; EP3554437A1; KR20190112264A; JP2020501736A

Abstract

A skin care device comprising a receptacle including an outlet and defining a chamber extending from the outlet to a sump defined by an impermeable portion of the receptacle and arranged to receive an end of a tube inserted through the outlet. A wicking material is received on the permeable portion of the container for positioning on a specific site of skin. When a vacuum is applied at the sump, the specific location is cooled by evaporative cooling when it is wet. The device comprises at least one vent arranged such that: promoting air flow and preventing vacuum from occurring in the skin portion adjacent to where the wicking material is located while vacuum is applied. The device may be used for wound care and for placing wicking material within folds of skin.

Description

Microenvironment controlled care including wound care

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 15/384,196, filed 2016, 12, 19, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present disclosure pertains generally to skin care and is directed, in particular, to devices and methods for caring for a person's skin (including wound care) through skin microenvironment control.

Background

U.S. patent No. 9222685 to Lachenbruch teaches enhancing the care of a specific area of human skin by microenvironment control of the specific area of the skin, such as by flowing air through the specific area of the skin to cool the specific area of the skin by evaporation.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments disclosed herein provide devices and related methods for treating specific portions of human skin by controlling the microenvironment of specific areas of the skin. In one embodiment, a method comprises a receptacle comprising an outlet and defining a chamber extending from the outlet to a sump defined by an impermeable portion of the receptacle and arranged to receive an end of a tube inserted through the outlet, the chamber being shaped to receive fluid drawn into the chamber through a permeable portion of the receptacle, wherein fluid can be drawn into the chamber by a vacuum applied at the sump. The receptacle is configured to receive a wicking material on at least some of the permeable portions of the receptacle, and is further configured and dimensioned for positioning at least some of the wicking material on at least a portion of a skin site such that, based on the position of the wicking material, the at least a portion of the skin site is cooled by evaporative cooling when the site is wet when a vacuum is applied at the reservoir.

Embodiments disclosed herein also provide methods of treating a specific area of human skin by controlling the microenvironment of the specific area of the skin. The method comprises applying to at least a portion of the skin site a device comprising a receptacle comprising an outlet and defining a chamber extending from the outlet to a reservoir defined by an impermeable portion of the receptacle and arranged to receive an end of a tube inserted through the outlet, the chamber being shaped to receive fluid drawn into the chamber through the permeable portion of the receptacle; wherein fluid can be drawn into the chamber by a vacuum applied at the sump; wherein wicking material is received on some of the permeable portions of the container, the container configured and dimensioned for positioning at least some of the wicking material on at least a portion of a skin site such that, based on the position of the wicking material, the at least a portion of a skin site is cooled by evaporation when a vacuum is applied at the reservoir, and wherein an impermeable layer covers at least a portion of the device that is not configured for positioning the wicking material on the at least a portion of a skin site. The method includes applying a vacuum at the reservoir to draw air from at least a portion of the skin site, thereby cooling the at least a portion of the site by evaporative cooling when the site is moist.

The device according to one or more embodiments may be used to treat wounds at a specific site on the skin.

Embodiments disclosed herein provide methods of treating wounds on a specific site of human skin by controlling the microenvironment of the specific site of the skin. The method comprises applying to a wound at a specific site of skin a device comprising a container comprising an outlet and defining a chamber extending from the outlet to a reservoir defined by an impermeable portion of the container and arranged to receive an end of a tube inserted through the outlet, the chamber being shaped to receive fluid drawn into the chamber through a permeable portion of the container; wherein fluid can be drawn into the chamber by a vacuum applied at the sump; wherein wicking material is received on some of the permeable portions of the container, the container being configured and dimensioned for positioning at least some of the wicking material over a wound of a skin site such that, based on the position of the wicking material, when a vacuum is applied at the reservoir, the wound of the skin site is cooled by evaporative cooling when the site is moist; and wherein an impermeable layer covers at least a portion of the device that is not configured for positioning the wicking material over the at least a portion of the specific site of skin. The method includes treating a wound at a specific location of the skin. Treating the wound includes irrigating the wound by sending liquid into the chamber through an irrigation port in the container and into the wound at the specific site of the skin through the wicking material. Treating the wound includes applying a vacuum at the reservoir to cool the wound by evaporative cooling and debride the wound while the wound is moist.

In addition to cooling at least a portion of the localized area of skin by evaporative cooling, the devices and methods disclosed herein prevent a vacuum from occurring at a portion of the person's skin proximate the location where the wicking material is located while applying the vacuum by applying the device to the at least a portion of the localized area of skin during application to the at least a portion of the localized area of skin, the device comprising a receptacle comprising an outlet and defining a chamber extending from the outlet to a reservoir defined by an impermeable portion of the receptacle and configured to receive an end of a tube inserted through the outlet, the chamber shaped to receive fluid drawn into the chamber through the permeable portion of the receptacle; wherein fluid can be drawn into the chamber by a vacuum applied at the sump; wherein wicking material is received on some of the permeable portions of the receptacle, the receptacle being configured and dimensioned for positioning at least some of the wicking material over at least a portion of a skin site such that, based on the position of the wicking material, when the site is wet, at least a portion of the skin site is cooled by evaporative cooling when a vacuum is applied at the reservoir; and wherein an impermeable layer covers at least a portion of the device that is not configured for positioning the wicking material over the at least a portion of the specific site of skin, in which device at least one vent is provided in the so provided portion of one or more of the impermeable layer or container: does not contact human skin while wicking material is positioned on at least the portion of the specific area of skin.

Features from any of the disclosed embodiments may be used in combination with each other without limitation. In addition, other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. Reference is made to the detailed description to illustrate additional features of the embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a skin care device according to an embodiment, wherein the internal chamber is shown by a dashed line.

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional end view of the container shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 1A-1A in FIG. 1, and also showing a tube received in the lumen via the outlet and a wicking material covering a portion of the container.

FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional end view of the container shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 1B-1B in FIG. 1, and also showing a tube received in the lumen via the outlet and a wicking material covering a portion of the container.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary use of the wicking material of the device according to one embodiment for treating a site where skin covers skin.

Fig. 3 is a schematic partial cross-sectional end view of another exemplary embodiment of a device according to one embodiment further including a flush port and showing a syringe that may be used in conjunction with the flush port to flush a skin site.

Fig. 4 is a schematic partial cross-sectional side view of yet another exemplary embodiment of a device according to an embodiment, the device further including a finger pocket.

The figures are not drawn to scale or to illustrate the shapes of the various components of the exemplary embodiments, but are merely drawn for the purpose of illustrating the relative positions of the various components.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1, 1A and 1B, an exemplary embodiment of a skin care device 10 according to one embodiment includes a container 11. The receptacle includes an outlet 14 and defines a chamber 13, the chamber 13 extending from the outlet 14 to a sump 15. The sump 15 is defined by the impermeable portion 12a of the container 11 and is arranged to receive one end of a tube 19 inserted via the outlet 14. Preferably, the tube 19 is received in the chamber 13 in such a way that: the open end of the tube 19 extends into the receptacle 15 and is capable of performing a suction action in the receptacle 15, like that provided when a person sucks on a straw.

The chamber 13 is shaped to receive the fluid drawn into the chamber 13 via the permeable portion 12b of the container 11. Fluid can be drawn into the chamber 13 by the vacuum applied at the sump 15 by the tube 19. The chamber 13 may be of any shape and is generally flatter than circular.

The reservoir 11 is configured to receive the wicking material 18 on at least some of the permeable portions 12b of the reservoir 11, and is further configured and dimensioned for positioning at least some of the wicking material 18 on at least a portion of a skin site such that, based on such position of the wicking material 18, the skin site is cooled by evaporative cooling when a vacuum is applied at the reservoir 15 while the site is moist.

The wicking material 18 is selected from exemplary materials such as woven or nonwoven materials (e.g., gauze) that define a very large number of potential pathways for air and liquid to travel without inhibiting microenvironment control.

In this exemplary embodiment of the skin care device 10, the permeable portion 12b of the container 11 comprises: a spun plastic material web having a plurality (e.g., a very large number, e.g., greater than 100) of small openings (e.g., openings of 1 μm or more). In some embodiments, the permeable web of spun plastic material is a sheet configured to define the cross-section of the chamber 13 by bending and folding over the sheet such that opposite sides of the sheet are held closely together or in contact (as shown at 16). The opposite sides of the permeable web may be held together by adhesive tape or by other means (e.g., glue) or by compression that occurs when some articles, such as wicking material 18 (fig. 1B), are wrapped around the sheet. In some other embodiments, the opposing edges of the permeable mesh do not touch.

Although the chamber 13 is shown in fig. 1A and 3 as having a rectangular cross-section, the permeable portion 12b of the container 11 is preferably configured to define a chamber 13 having some other cross-sectional shape, such as any cross-sectional shape sufficient to receive a tube 19, such as a chamber between two opposing containers of a folded sheet of flexible spun plastic material.

In some embodiments, which receive a wicking material 18 to cover at least some of the permeable portion 12b of the container 11, the skin care device 10 further includes an impermeable layer 20. The impermeable layer 20 is not disposed on the side of the wicking material 18 that is disposed against at least a portion of the particular exposed site of skin. The impermeable layer 20 covers at least a portion of the device 10 that is not configured for positioning the wicking material 18 over a portion of a specific site of skin. The impermeable layer 20 helps reduce vacuum loss and prevents liquid from leaking from the skin care device 10 and soaking the patient and/or user's clothing, while still allowing air to flow through the uncovered portion of the wicking material 18.

Fig. 1A shows the wicking material 18 being received by the permeable portion 12b of the container 11 completely around the cross-sectional perimeter of the permeable portion 12b of the container 11. In some embodiments, where the container 11 is not configured to receive the wicking material 18 completely around the cross-sectional perimeter of the permeable portion 12b of the container 11, the permeable portion 12b of the container 11 need not be disposed around the cross-sectional perimeter of the chamber 13.

In some embodiments, the impermeable portion 12a of the container 11 is merged with the impermeable layer 20, and the permeable portion 12B of the container 11 is not necessarily disposed below the impermeable layer 20 (unlike that shown in FIG. 1B), whereby the impermeable layer 20 defines a longitudinally extending portion of the compartment 13.

When treating skin sites where the skin overlies the skin (e.g., within skin folds, under the human breast, under the pannus of the human abdomen, within the axilla of a human, or in portions of the groin area of a human), impermeable layer 20 is not necessary because the body skin folds at these sites may prevent loss of vacuum; thus, the wicking material is sufficient to provide evaporative cooling when a vacuum is applied.

At least one vent is provided in a portion of the impermeable layer 20 and/or the container 11 so disposed: does not contact human skin while the wicking material 18 is positioned on the at least a portion of the skin site to facilitate drawing air from the at least a portion of the skin site and to prevent a vacuum from occurring in the portion of the skin where the wicking material 18 is positioned while the vacuum is applied.

In the exemplary embodiment described herein with reference to fig. 1, 1A, and 1B, at least one vent is provided by a hole 22 in impermeable layer 20.

In some embodiments, at least one vent may be provided by an impermeable layer 20 that does not cover the wicking material 18 at the location of the vent (e.g., at the end of the container 11 that includes the outlet 14), since the wicking material 18 is naturally vented. The vent cannot be located near the sump 15. In addition, the vent may be located on any portion of the impermeable layer 20 or container 11 away from the receptacle 15.

In some embodiments, at least one vent may be provided in an impermeable portion of the container 11 that is not configured to receive the wicking material 18 or contact the skin when the skin care device 10 is used to treat the skin.

In some embodiments, each vent is provided by a hole 22 having a diameter of about two millimeters. In other embodiments, the size and shape of the apertures 22 may be different. In some embodiments, the at least one vent may not be circular, such as a slit. The at least one vent needs to be of such shape and size as to prevent a vacuum from occurring at a portion of human or animal skin adjacent to where the wicking material 18 is placed as air flows through the wicking material 18.

As described above, the vent may be exposed to air when the device 10 is used to treat those skin sites where skin coverage of the skin does not require an impermeable layer. For example, when the wicking material 18 is disposed beneath the breast 21, as shown in fig. 2, the vent is provided by exposing the wicking material 18 on at least one side of the breast 21.

Referring to fig. 3, in another exemplary embodiment, the skin care device 10' further includes a flush port 26. In some embodiments, the irrigation port 26 may be disposed between the wicking material 18 and the impermeable layer 20.

A tube 27 extending from a syringe 28 is inserted into the irrigation port 26 and a wound at a specific site of the skin is irrigated by using the syringe to deliver liquid into the chamber 13 via the irrigation port 26 and thus to the specific site of the skin via the wicking material 18. When the specific area of skin contains a wound, the wound may be mechanically debrided by applying a vacuum at the reservoir such that necrotic tissue and fluid are wicked away from the wound by the wicking material 18' and are drawn into the reservoir via the permeable portion 12b of the container and carried away from the reservoir through the receiving tube 19.

Such irrigation may clean the wound at the particular location of the skin where the wicking material 18 is applied. Such irrigation may also provide medication and beneficial enzymes to such specific areas, and also provide a liquid to achieve evaporative cooling and moisturization of the skin.

Referring to fig. 4, another exemplary embodiment of a skin care device 30 according to one embodiment includes a container. The device 30 includes a permeable portion 32 and an impermeable portion 33, a wicking material 34 covering a portion of the permeable portion 32, and a finger pocket 35 disposed adjacent a portion of the wicking material 34 disposed for positioning on at least a portion of a specific area of skin. The finger pocket 35 is configured to mate with a finger 36. The device 30 also includes an outlet 37 and defines a chamber 38, the chamber 38 extending from the outlet 37 to a sump 39. The sump 39 is defined by a portion of the impermeable portion 33 of the container and is arranged to receive one end of a tube 41 inserted through the outlet 37. Preferably, the tube 41 is received in the chamber 38 in such a way that: the open end of the tube 41 extends into the sump 39 and is capable of a pumping action in the sump 39.

Vacuum is applied to the reservoir while the finger bag 35 is in use.

In addition, a specific part of the skin can be washed by using a syringe (not shown) inserted into a washing port (26 as shown in fig. 3) while using the finger bag 35.

The surgeon or nurse may insert the fingers 36 into the finger pockets 35; and use the inserted finger 36 to position the device 30 while simultaneously irrigating the skin site with a syringe, thereby keeping the skin site clean and thereby enabling better visualization of the skin site during surgery or while irrigating the wound.

When a finger 36 is inserted into the finger pocket 35 during a procedure, the operating team personnel may use the finger pocket 35 to position the wicking material 32 over the aperture of the perforated organ to remove blood and other fluids from the aperture of the perforated organ.

A portion of the skin site to which the wicking material 34 is applied is cooled by evaporative cooling using the device 30 when the site is wet by applying a vacuum at the reservoir 39.

As mentioned above, the device 30 may also be used to treat those areas of the skin overlying the skin.

Examples of uses of the various embodiments include caring for skin damaged by injury or disease, and removing unwanted moisture from wounds or other specific areas of skin (e.g., between skin folds or under breasts). For such moisture removal applications, the skin care device preferably does not include an impermeable barrier that would prevent moisture flow through the chamber.

The benefits specifically stated herein do not necessarily apply to every conceivable embodiment. Furthermore, these stated benefits are merely examples and should not be construed as the only benefits of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Although the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as examples of preferred embodiments as described herein. Other variations are possible and the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments described herein but by the claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1. A device for treating a skin site of a person by controlling the microenvironment of the skin site, the device comprising: a receptacle comprising an outlet and defining a chamber extending from the outlet to a reservoir, the reservoir being at least partially defined by an impermeable portion of the receptacle and arranged to receive an end of a tube inserted through the outlet, the chamber being shaped to receive fluid drawn into the chamber through a permeable portion of the receptacle, wherein fluid can be drawn into the chamber by a vacuum applied at the reservoir, wherein the receptacle is configured to receive a wicking material on at least some of the permeable portions of the receptacle and is further configured and dimensioned for positioning at least some of the wicking material on at least some of the permeable portions on at least a portion of a skin-specific site such that, based on the position of the wicking material, when a vacuum is applied at the reservoir, cooling the at least a portion of the skin site by evaporative cooling while the site is moist; and

an impermeable layer covering at least a portion of the container such that the chamber is positioned between at least a portion of the impermeable layer and at least some of the permeable portions, the impermeable layer including at least one vent extending through at least a portion of the impermeable layer and configured to prevent a vacuum from occurring at a site of human skin adjacent to a location where the device is positioned when the vacuum is applied.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the wicking material is received by the receptacle.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the impermeable layer covers at least a portion of the container that is not configured for positioning the wicking material over the at least a portion of the specific site of skin.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

a finger pocket disposed adjacent to a portion of the wicking material disposed for positioning on at least a portion of a specific site of skin, wherein the pocket is configured to mate with a finger.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the reservoir includes a flush port, liquid entering the flush port being able to pass into the chamber to the specific site of skin via a wicking material.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the container includes a flushing port into which liquid can be fed into the chamber.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the permeable portion of the container comprises a spun plastic material having a plurality of openings.